Western China and central Asia are positioned centrally along the Millennium Silk Road—a core region bridging the east and west. Understanding the potential changes in climate over this core region is important to the successful implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, a $1 trillion regional investment in infrastructure. In a recently published study in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters, scientists from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, projected both mean and extreme climate changes using the ensemble mean of CMIP5 models. The comparison of mean and extreme climate changes under 1.5°C and 2°C global warming scenarios highlights the impacts that can be avoided by achieving global warming of half a degree lower.